Institute for the Publication of the Works of Arthur Szyk in Lwow (Self-Portrait) Arthur Szyk (1894-1951)
ca. 1932-1933
pen and ink on paper
Provided by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley, under Creative Commons license

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My People. Samson in the Ghetto (The Battle of the Warsaw Ghetto) Arthur Szyk (1894-1951)
New York, 1945
watercolor and gouache on board
Provided by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley, under Creative Commons license

The United States of America (from "United Nations")
New York, 1945, Arthur Szyk (1894-1951)
watercolor and gouache, pen and ink and pencil on board
Provided by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley, under Creative Commons license

David and Saul, Arthur Szyk (1894-1951)
Łódź (Poland), 1921
watercolor and gouache on paper
Provided by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley, under Creative Commons license

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC-Berkeley has acquired the most significant collection of works by Arthur Szyk, a Polish Jewish artist and political caricaturist who depicted the Jewish experience during key 20th-century events such as the Holocaust, World War II and the founding of the State of Israel.

The works were purchased from a private owner courtesy of a $10.1 million grant to the Magnes from Bay Area-based Taube Philanthropies, making it the largest single monetary gift to acquire art in campus history.

The Szyk collection — much of which has never been on public view — includes 450 paintings, drawings and sketches, plus a vast trove of documentary material, such as his diaries, books and magazines that featured his work, financial records and commissions.

“Arthur Szyk’s unique contributions to contemporary art and political illustration have not yet been recognized to the extent his work deserves,” Tad Taube, chairman of Taube Philanthropies, said in a Monday morning news release. Taube’s parents had befriended Szyk in the 1940s when the artist arrived in the U.S.

“With our shared Polish Jewish heritage, and a relationship my parents developed with Szyk … it is significant to me to ensure that Szyk’s remarkable works are available to today’s and future generations,” Taube says.

Much of Szyk’s art is said to be stylistically reminiscent of medieval and Renaissance traditions, with many of his works reflecting the social and political unease that gripped the world during his lifetime. A harsh critic of Hitler and Nazi totalitarianism, a number of his most famous pieces portray what Szyk called the “madness” of his times.

“Arthur Szyk operated simultaneously in many countries, cultures, and languages, and he was a refugee for a good part of his life,” Magnes curator Francesco Spagnolo says. “The Magnes is committed to exploring and documenting the cultures of Jews in the global diaspora, and this collection furthers that goal. Our curatorial task … is to thoroughly examine every aspect of Szyk’s work and place it in proper context.”

A portion of the collection will be on loan to the New York Historical Society for a show in September. Locally, the first major exhibition will likely be in 2018.

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